Drupe pitter



y 2, 1964 J. M. HAIT 3,132,676

DRUPE PITTEIR Filed Dec. 13, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JAMES M. HAIT ATTORNEY May 12, 1964 J. M. HAlT 2,

DRUPE PITTER Filed Dec. 13, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvsm-on IOO JAMES mum ATTORNEY United States Patent C) 3,132,676 DRUPEPITTER James M. Hait, San Jose, Calif., assignor to FMC Corporation, San Jose, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 158,973 6 Claims. (Cl. 14628) This invention pertains to apparatus for pitting fruit and more particularly relates to apparatus for twist pitting peaches.

It has been proposed to pit peaches and other drupes by gripping the pit with a set of blades that both bisect the fruit and grip the pit, whereupon twisting heads en gage the fruit halves and free the halves from the pit. In the twist pitting machine of the present invention the peach halves are brought into engagement with the twisting heads incident to movement of the blades in a circular path.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved twist pitting machine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fruit pitting machine of the dual twisting station, progressive type, wherein the mechanism for mounting and operating the twisting heads is of a simple and precisely controllable construction.

Another object is to provide a turret type machine of the type described wherein the mechanism that operates the twistingheads occupies a relatively small portion of the turret circumference, thereby facilitating access to the turret for adjustment and maintenance of the parts.

Still another object is to provide apparatus of the type described wherein the twisting heads are mounted in diametrical alignment, for simultaneous tandem reciprocation toward and away fromthe fruit. In the, present invention, a single cam assembly is all that is required to reciprocate both twisting heads.

Other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan of the pitting machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken on lines .22 of FIG. 1.

FIG, 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on lines 33 of FIG. 1, showing a pit gripping blade unit.

FIG. 4 is a plan of the blade unit.

' FIG. 5 is a section taken on lines 55 of FIG. 2 showing the collar assembly for reciprocating the twisting heads.

' FIG. 6 is a section taken on lines 66 of FIG. 2

showing the splined shaft and sleeve assembly for one of.

the twisting heads.

Referring-to FIGS. 1 and 2, the machine comprises. a rotatable turret 10 having a circular platform 12, and duringoperation the turret is indexed in 90 increments in a clockwise direction (FIG. 1). Mounted below the platform is 'an annular peach half receiving bin 13 and a pit receiving bin 14. Mounted at 90 intervals around the platform 12 are four identical units 15, 16, 17 and 18. Each unit mounts a pair of peach bisecting and pit gripping blades, indicated generally at 2.0. The machine provides four stations. As seen in FIG. 1, unit 15 is at a feed station A, unit 16 is at a first twisting station B, unit 17 is at an idle station C, and unit 18 isa-t a second twisting station D. To briefly explain the operation of the machine, unit 15 will be traced from station to station for P1 is indicated as being moved toward the blades.

3,132,676 Patented May 12, 1964 ice When the peach is in thevblades, the turret is indexed 90,

and as unit 15 is moved away from station A, the blades 20 close, to complete bisection of the flesh of the peach and to grip the pit. -When unit 15 reaches the first twisting station B, the turret dwells, and a twisting head 21 is moved radially into engagement with the outer half of the peach, whereupon the head turns to twist the outer peach half free of the pit. The severed outer peach half drops into bin 13. On the next indexing of the turret, the unit 15, with the inner half of peach P1 andthe pit, is brought to the idle station C. No operation is performed at idle station C.

The next indexing of the turret brings the unit 15 to the second twisting station D. Here a second twisting head 22, moving in tandem with first twisting head 21, twists the inner peach half free of the pit. peach half also drops into the bin 13.

The final indexing of the turret brings the unit 15 back to the feed station A. During this motion, the blades of unit 15 are opened and the pit falls into the bin 14.

In the above rsum, a single peach P1 has been turret, two peach halves, the outer half of one peach and the inner half of another, are discharged into the bin 13. The mechanism for performing the operations referred to above will now be described in detail.

As mentioned above, all four fruit bisecting and pit gripping units are identical and each unit mounts a set of blades 20. The blades are spring closed to bisect the peach and grip the pit, whereas they are mechanically opened torelease the pit. Details of the blades and their mounting do notform part of the present invention, a suitable blade structure appearing in the patent to Wilbur No. 2,954,063. ,f

A set of blades 20, and the mounting of the individual 2 blades in the set,.are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 Referring to these figures, each blade unit is mounted on a pedestal 26 bolted to the platform 12. Projecting from each pedestal 26 is a sleeve 27 having a bore 28 and the blade units are mounted so that the bores 28 are tangential 31is secured to a hub 32 (FIG. 3) that pivots on a pin 34 that extends between the ears 29 and 30.

As described in detail in the aforesaid Wilbur patent,

in order to open the lower blade, a rocker arm 36 (FIG;

3) extend upwardly from hub 32 of the blade for engagement by a push rod 37 slidably mounted in the bore 28 in sleeve 27. The two blades are spring urged to their gripping position, and for this purpose a spring crossbar 38 is mounted on the lower blade 31-, and thelower ends of a 1 pair of springs 39 are seated on the crossbar. The lower blade has a sharpened forward'edge portion 40aand arcuate sharpened edge portion 40b for cutting into the peach and gripping the pit of the peach, 3

The upper blade parts are complementary to the lower blade'parts. The upper blade 41 is secured to a hub 42 that pivots on an upper pivot pin 44 mounted in ears29 and 30. A' blade opening rocker arm 46, shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3, extends downwardly fromi the hub 42 for engagement by push rod 37. 'An upper spring crossbar 48 'is' mounted on the upper'blade '41, and the' upper ends "of springs 39' seat on the crossbar 48 for closing the blades and causing them to completethe 'cut' The inner 2 into the peach and grip the pit. The upper blade 41 is sharpened at 50a, 50b in a manner complementary to the lower blade. Thus the blades are mechanically opened by the push rod 37 for receiving peaches at the loading station A, and are closed by springs 39 for bisecting the fruit and gripping the pit during the twisting operation. The mechanism for operating push rods 37 to open the blades will be described presently.

The turret indexing mechanism is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As seen in FIG. 2, a base 60 mounts a stationary vertical post 61. A sleeve 62 is rotatably mounted on the post 61, and a collar 63, that is secured to the post,

supports the lower end of the sleeve. The platform '12 is mounted on the upper end of the sleeve 62 by means of a hub 64 integral with the platform and secured to the sleeve. The stationary post 61 extends through both the hub 64 and the platform for supporting the twisting heads against rotation as the platform 12 is rotated, in a manner to be described.

As best seen in FIG. 2, in order to index the turret 10, a motor 65 drives a shaft 66 which mounts the cam wheel 67 of a Geneva drive. The star wheel 68 of the Geneva drive is mounted on a shaft 69, and the shafts 66 and 69 are supported in brackets 70 and 71 mounted on the base 60. Shaft 69 indexes the platform 12 by means of miter gears 72 and 73 on shaft 69 and sleeve 62, respectively.

The Geneva drive is such that one turn of the motor shaft 66 results in one quarter turn of the turret, and there follows a dwell period during which the motor shaft makes a three quarter turn and the turret is stationary.

' A blade operating mechanism controls the push rods 37 that open the blades and permit them to close. As seen in FIG. 2, a collar 76 is secured to the upper end of stationary post 61, and a stationary cam 77 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is mounted on the lower end of the collar 76, the platform 12 rotating underneath the cam. The cam 77 is formed with a nose portion 78 (FIG, 1) which operates four levers 81, each of which is pivotally mounted at 82 on. the platform 12, there being one lever 81 for each of the blade units 15-18, seen in FIG. 1. Each lever 81 has a radial extension 83 at its inner end which mounts a cam follower roller 84 that engages the periphery of the stationary cam 77. As seen in FIGS. 1-3, the outer ends of the levers 81 are provided with upwardly projecting fingers 86 that engage the push rods 37.

The blade closing springs 39 (FIG. 3) urge the push rods 37 against the lever fingers 86, causing the levers 81 to pivot about their pivots 82 to bring the cam follower rollers 84 into engagement with the stationary cam 77. As the turret indexes, the cam follower roller 84 associated with the blade unit which was at the second twisting station D, rides up over the nose portion 78 of the stationary cam 77, which opens the blades as they pass from the second twisting station to the loading station A. The nose portion of the cam holds the blades fully open at the loading station. When the turret indexes again to move the blade unit from the loading station to the first twisting station B, the cam follower roller 84 rides down the nose portion 78 of the cam and on to a circular dwell portion 79, thereby permitting the blade closing springs 39 to close the blades.

A twisting head reciprocating and rotating mechanism advances the twisting heads to engage the peaches after each indexing operation, gives the twisting heads a partial turn, and retracts them before the next indexing operation takes place. The twisting heads illustrated are rubber lined cups as disclosed and claimed in the copending application of Vadas, Serial No. 811,410, filed May 6, 1959, now Patent No. 3,045,732, and assigned to the assignee of the present application, such details forming no part of the present invention.

The mechanism for advancing and retracting the twisting heads will first be described. As best seen in FIG. 2, a one-to-one chain and sprocket drive 90, driven from motor shaft 66, turns a cam shaft 91 mounted in frame elements 92 and 92a. Mounted on the cam shaft 91 is a cylinder cam 93 which is formed with an operating groove 94 that receives a roller 95 mounted on the lower end of a lever 96. Lever 96 is pivoted at 97 on a bracket 98 extending from the frame element 92.

Means are provided for mounting the twisting heads whereby they can be independently reciprocated and rotated. The twisting head 21 is mounted on an internally splined sleeve 100 which, as seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, is slidably mounted on a splined shaft 102. Splined shaft 102 is rotatably mountedin the frame element bycollars that restrain the shaft against axial motion,

In order to reciprocate the splined sleeve 100 on the splined shaft 102, the upper end of the lever 96 is formed with a slotted fork 103. Trunnions 104 (FIGS. 2 and 5) project from a split collar 106 and ride in slots formed in the fork. As seen in FIG. 5, the split collar 106 surrounds a flange 107 integral with the splined sleeve 100. With this construction the cylinder cam 93 and lever 96 advance and retract the splined sleeve 100 and hence the twisting head 21, without interfering with rotation of the twisting head by splined shaft 102.

Means are also provided to reciprocate the forward twisting head 22 simultaneously with the head 21, and to rotate the head 22 at the same time that the head 21 is rotated. As seen in FIG. 5, a collar 108 is rotatably mounted on the splined sleeve 100 by means of snap rings 109, which axially locate the collar 108 on the splined sleeve. Extendingforwardly from an extension 108:: of collar108, is an arm 10812 (FIGS. 1 and 2), for reciprocating the twisting head 22. The arm 10819 is guided for reciprocation by means of brackets 110 which are mounted on a platform 111 secured to the stationary post 61 by means of the same collar 76 that mounts the blade opening cam 77. In order to support the forward twisting head 22 for reciprocation while permitting it to rotate, a collar 112 is formed on a downward extension 108; of the forward end of arm 108b, and rotatably mounted within collar 112 is a forward splined sleeve/113 that is axially retained within the collar by snap rings in the same manner that the splined sleeve 100 is mounted within the collar 108. The forward splined sleeve 113 slides on a splined shaft 114 provided for rotating the twisting head 22. As best seen in FIG. 2, splined shaft 114 is rotatably mounted in a bracket 115 depending from platform 111, and the splined shaft 114 is re strained against axial motion in bracket 115 by a pair of collars on the shaft.

The'mechanism for giving the twisting heads a partial turn while they are in their advanced position and in engagement with their respective peach halves, will now be described. Referring to FIG. '2, a one-to-one pulley and V-belt drive 121 is provided from the motor shaft 66 to a countershaft 122 mounted in the frame elements turn for each full turn of'the motor shaft 66. A one-to-' one chain and sprocket drive 127 connects the countershaft 126 to the splined shaft 102, that turns the internally splined sleeve 100, and hence the twisting head 21. i

In order to turn the forward twisting head 22 simultaineousl-y with twisting head 21, a one-to-oue chain and sprocket drive 128 connects the splined shaft 102 to a forwardly extending cross-shaft 130 rotatably mounted in the same brackets 110 that guide the reciprocating arm 108b. At the forward end of cross-shaft 130 is a oneto-one chain and sprocket drive 132 that turns the splined shaft 114, the splined sleeve 113, and hence the forward peach twisting cup 22, in synchronism with twisting head 21.

Having completed a detailed description of the various mechanisms that make up the apparatus of the invention,

a brief rsum of the operation of the entire machine, and the timing of the parts will now be presented.

The description will begin with the turret positioned so that unit is at loading station A, as seen in FIG. 1. It is assumed that the turret indexing Geneva parts 67 and 68 have just brought the blade units to their respective stations. The bladees at loading station A will be open and a peach P1 is inserted between the blades with the sharp edges 40:! and 50a of the blades partially bisecting the fruit and initially retaining the fruit between the open blades. The turret indexing Geneva drive parts 67, 68 will cause the turret to dwell in the position shown in FIG. 1 for a three quarter rotation of drive shaft 66. The barrel cam 93 (FIG. 2) will have retracted both twisting heads to accommodate the turret indexing mo tion that has just taken place.

During the first quarter turn of the drive shaft 66 that occurs during the three quarter turn turret dwell period, cylinder cam 93 will advance the twisting heads 21 and 22 against the whole peach P2 at station B, and the half peach P4 at station D, respectively. During the second quarter turn of the turret dwell period, the cylinder cam imparted to the twisting heads 21 and 22 during this period can be selected bychanging the ratio of the chain and sprocket drive 127.

During the final quarter turn of drive shaft 66 that occurs during the three quarter turn turret dwell period, the cylinder cam 93 retracts the twisting heads, and the Geneva drive for turning the twisting heads begins a dwell period, so that the twisting heads do not rotate. The dwell period for twisting head rotation also lasts for a three quarter turn of the motor shaft 66, during which period the non-rotating twisting heads are retracted, dwell in their retracted position during indexing of the turret, and are advanced for twisting.

During the final quarter turn of the motor shaft 66, which follows the three quarter turn dwell period of the turret, the Geneva drive parts 67 and 68 indexes the turret 90. The cylinder cam 93 retains the twisting heads in their retracted position during the indexing operation.

After the turret has been indexed, a new dwell period for the turret is provided by the Geneva drive parts 67 and 68. After such indexing, peach P1 on unit 15, previously loaded at station A, is presented to the first twisting station B. Peach P2, on unit 16, has been moved from the first twisting station B to the idle station C, and peach P3, 0n unit 17, previously at idle station C, is now positioned at the second twisting station D. The pit of peach P4, on unit 18, will have been released during the indexing motion, and unit 18 is now at loading station A, with the blades open.

With regard to the opening and closing of the blades, as previously mentioned, as each blade unit is indexed from the second twisting station D to the loading station A, the cam follower 84 on the associated lever 81 rides over the nose portion 78 of the stationary cam 77 (FIG. 1). This advances the push rod 37 of the unit, and opens the blades to release the pit. This action occurs when the blade unit is disposed above the pit receiving bin 14. The nose 78 of cam 77 is so proportioned and positioned that the blades remain open while the unit is at the loading station A. Soon after the turret is again indexed, to move the unit away from the loading station A, the cam follower roller 84 rides down the cam nose portion 78 and on to the circular dwell portion 79 of the cam, so that the blades close and remain closed as the unit moves to stations B, C and D, as described above.

The invention having thus been described, what is believed to be new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for producing pit free drupe halves com prising means providing a loading station and two spaced twisting stations, a plurality of drupe carrying means arranged in spaced relationship and for intermittent conjoint movement so that one of said plurality of drupe carrying means will be adjacent to each of said twisting stations during the twisting operation, each drupe carrying means including means for bisecting the flesh and gripping the pit of a drupe at the loading station, two rotatable drupegripping means having a common axis of rotation for twisting off one drupe half at each twisting station, means for circularly indexing said drupe carrying means to successively bring said drupe carrying means to said first twisting station for removal of one drupe half, then to the second twisting station for removal of the other drupe half, and back to the loading station, means for releasing the pit during said latter indexing motion, and an axially movable member extending generally parallel to said axis for connection to both of said drupe gripping means to conjointly move them into engagement with said drupes at said twisting stations.

2. Apparatus for producing pit free drupe halves comprising means providing a loading station, an idle station and two twisting stations, said stations being disposed at intervals in a circle, with the twisting stations on a diameter of the circle, four equally spaced drupe carrying means each constructed for bisecting the flesh and gripping the pit of a drupe at the loading station, rotatable drupe gripping means for twisting olf one drupe half at each twisting station, said gripping means having a common axis of rotation, means for circularly indexing said drupe carrying means in 90 increments to successively bring said means from the loading station to said first twisting station for removal of one drupe half, then to the idle station, then to the second twisting station for removal of the other drupe half, and back to the loading station, means for releasing the pit during said latter indexing motion, and an axially movable member extending generally parallel to said axis and being directly connected to both of said drupe gripping means to conjointly move them into engagement with said drupes at said twisting stations.

3. A fruit pitting machine comprising first and second supports, one of said supports being rotatable relative to the other, means for indexing the rotatable support, a set of blades mounted on said first support for opening and closing motion, means for closing said blades to bisect the flesh of a fruit and grip its pit, twisting heads mounted on said second support on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the support, said twisting heads having a common axis of rotation that intersects the axis of rotation of said second support, one twisting head being disposed on said second support for confronting one half of a whole fruit held by said set of blades during a dwell period of said rotatable support, the other twisting head being disposed on said second support for confronting the other half of the same fruit during a subsequent dwell period of said rotatable support, an axially movable member on said second support extending generally parallel to said axis and being directly connected to both of said twisting heads to conjointly move the heads into engagement with said drupes at the twisting stations, and means for opening said blades to release the bare pit.

4. A fruit pitting machine comprising a turret mounted for rotation, two sets of blades mounted on said turret for opening and closing motion in a plane normal to the plane of turret rotation, said sets being mounted on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of said turret, means for closing said blades to cut into the flesh of a Whole fruit and grip the pit of the fruit, a pair of axially aligned twisting heads on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of said turret, means mounting said twisting heads for conjoint diametral reciprocation and for rotation about their axes, means for indexing said turret relative to said twisting heads to successively present opposite halves of a fruit held by said bladw to said twisting heads, and means tor opening said blades to release the pit of the fruit after the blades leave the second twisting head,

5. A pitter for peaches comprising a rotatable platform, at least two peach transporting units on said platform, each peach transporting unit being operable to cut through the flesh of a peach and grip its pit, a pair of peach half twisting elements, means mounting said elements for rotation about a common axis, means for incrementally advancing said platform to present one half of a peach carried by one of said units to one twisting element and then present the other half of said peach to the other twisting element, a shaft extending generally in a direction parallel to said axis and being directly connected to each of said twisting elements, said shaft being operable in timed relation with each incremental advance of said platform to concurrently project said twisting elements along their axis of rotation into engagement with the peach halves on their respective transporting units, and a camming means operatively connected to said shaft for projecting and retracting it in said timed relation.

6. Apparatus for removing fruit halves from their pit comprising a platform rotatable about a vertical axis; four equally spaced fruit-gripping devices disposed in a circle around said platform; means operable to circularly index said platform about its axis in steps of 90, said apparatus providing in sequence and at 90 intervals, a loading station, a first twisting station, an idle station, and a second twisting station; a pair of rotatable twisting heads mounted for rotation about a common axis located at 90 to said vertical axis and parallel to a line connecting said first and second twisting stations; a shaft connected to each of said twisting heads for simultaneously advancing said twisting heads, along their axis of rotation for engaging and twisting a peach half fromsthe fruit positioned at the first and second twisting stations, and means for rotating said twisting heads while they are in engagement with the associated peach halves.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Drake et a1 May 22, 1962 

1. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PIT FREE DRUPE HALVES COMPRISING MEANS PROVIDING A LOADING STATION AND TWO SPACED TWISTING STATIONS, A PLURALITY OF DRUPE CARRYING MEANS ARRANGED IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP AND FOR INTERMITTENT CONJOINT MOVEMENT SO THAT ONE OF SAID PLURALITY OF DRUPE CARRYING MEANS WILL BE ADJACENT TO EACH OF SAID TWISTING STATIONS DURING, THE TWISTING OPERATION, EACH DRUPE CARRYING MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FOR BISECTING THE FLESH AND GRIPPING THE PIT OF A DRUPE AT THE LOADING STATION, TWO ROTATABLE DRUPE GRIPPING MEANS HAVING A COMMON AXIS OF ROTATION FOR TWISTING OFF ONE DRUPE HALF AT EACH TWISTING STATION, MEANS FOR CIRCULARLY INDEXING SAID DRUPE CARRYING MEANS TO SUCCESSIVELY BRING SAID DRUPE CARRYING MEANS TO SAID FIRST TWISTING STATION FOR REMOVAL OF ONE DRUPE HALF, THEN TO THE SECOND TWISTING STATION FOR REMOVAL OF THE OTHER DRUPE HALF, AND BACK TO THE LOADING STATION, MEANS FOR RELEASING THE PIT DURING SAID LATTER INDEXING MOTION, AND AN AXIALLY MOVABLE MEMBER EXTENDING GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID AXIS FOR CONNECTION TO BOTH OF SAID DRUPE GRIPPING MEANS TO CONJOINTLY MOVE THEM INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID DRUPES AT SAID TWISTING STATIONS. 